KIRKLAND, Wash., March 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- EvergreenHealth and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) today announced the grand opening of Halvorson Cancer Center, a bold collaboration that brings national-quality cancer care to patients, families and the greater community. Located on the EvergreenHealth campus in Kirkland, Wash., the new 26,000 square-foot state-of-the-art center houses a comprehensive range of cancer care and supporting services designed to bring patients and providers together in a warm and comforting environment that eases anxiety and promotes healing.

The grand opening – slated for Saturday, March 30 – culminates more than a year of fundraising, planning, construction, and collaboration with patients, families and providers to design a comfortable, convenient space for care and healing. The community celebration will dedicate the new center to the patients, families and surrounding community who believe in the center's promise to offer a place "where hope lives."

The community is invited to join EvergreenHealth and SCCA in celebrating the Halvorson Cancer Center, and to experience the new facility at a special open house on Saturday, March 30, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visitors can take self-guided tours of the center, located at 12040 NE 128th Street at the EvergreenHealth Medical Center in Kirkland. Complimentary parking is available, and light refreshments will be served.

The collaboration between EvergreenHealth and SCCA represents a growing trend among forward-thinking healthcare organizations seeking to extend high-quality care through innovative use of collaboration. The center's cancer specialists collaborate in developing care plans to achieve optimal outcomes through a range of treatments, including chemotherapy, radiotherapy, combination therapies, surgery, palliative care, rehab, and supportive care. For patients, the center also offers increased convenience with a single registration point for all services and treatments.

At EvergreenHealth, patients find a commitment to innovation, compassionate care and a reputation for the highest standards for quality and safety. Additionally, SCCA provides leading-edge cancer care, research and access to more than 200 open clinical trials focusing on the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

"Where you're treated matters and it is important that the best available cancer treatments are easily accessible," said Norm Hubbard, executive vice president of SCCA. "We're thrilled to partner with EvergreenHealth and look forward to extending SCCA's research and access to new clinical trials in a seamless way to the Eastside community."

"Together we're honored to be working with SCCA in a unique partnership that brings world-class cancer care to this community," said EvergreenHealth CEO Bob Malte. "Through this relationship, Halvorson will be our community's trusted resource for cancer treatment, prevention and screening. We will offer patients here their best hope for survival."

According to Malte, the architects and designers of the Halvorson Cancer Center were given design freedom to create an environment that concurrently gave physicians and other healthcare providers the resources and work environment to enable them to provide exemplary care, while making the patient experience as calm and stress-free as possible. Each of the center's treatment spaces also incorporates garden views combined with natural building materials and comfortable furnishings so that patients can feel more at home.

"Our teams did an extraordinary job of creating a clinical masterpiece with the Halvorson Cancer Center," Malte said. "EvergreenHealth and SCCA physicians, and staff, will be able to deliver breakthrough care to the communities we serve."

EvergreenHealth, a public hospital district and community-based healthcare organization established in 1972, offers a breadth of services and programs that is among the most comprehensive in the region. More than 950 physicians provide clinical excellence within more than 80 specialties, including cardiac, oncology, surgical care, orthopedics, a neuroscience institute, women's and children's services, hospice care, pulmonary care, a sleep disorders center and home care services. EvergreenHealth serves more than 400,000 residents in its primary service area of northern King and southern Snohomish counties with EvergreenHealth Primary Care, a network of primary and urgent care practices, and its main hospital campus in Kirkland, Wash. EvergreenHealth also provides emergency care at two sites; its main hospital campus and the EvergreenHealth Redmond Medical Center. In addition to clinical care, EvergreenHealth offers extensive community health outreach and education programs, anchored by EvergreenHealth Nurse Navigators & Healthline, a 24/7 nurse consultation service. For more information, visit www.evergreenhealth.com.

About Seattle Cancer Care Alliance

Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) is a cancer treatment center that unites doctors from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, UW Medicine and Seattle Children's. Our goal, every day, is to turn cancer patients into cancer survivors. Our purpose is to lead the world in the prevention and treatment of cancer. SCCA has five clinical care sites: an outpatient clinic on the Hutchinson Center campus, a pediatric inpatient unit at Seattle Children's, an adult inpatient unit at UW Medical Center, a medical oncology clinic at EvergreenHealth Cancer Care, and a radiation oncology clinic at Northwest Hospital & Medical Center. For more information about SCCA, visit www.seattlecca.org.